Terry fabric with piles of different colors



June 24, 1930. w. H. WAKEFIELD TERRY FABRIC WITH FILES OF DIFFERENTICOLORSI 7 Filed Dec. 21, 1927 Patented June 24, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WALTER H. WAKEFIELD, OI WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO CROMP- TON & KNOWLES LOO]! WORKS, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS TERRY FABRIC WITH PIT-E8 0! DIFFERENT COLORS Application filed December 21, 1927. Serial in. 241,708.

This invention relates to terry fabrics wherein the piles are formed of yarns havin differing characteristics and it is the genera object of the invention to provide a terry fabric wherein two or more sets of different kinds of terr pile forming warps are used, all but one o the sets of warps being buried during any one pick of the loom.

Terry towels of the better class have a body formed of terry fabric throu hout its length and have borders at the en s of the towel, the borders being formed with plain and terry effects to produce different designs. \Vhenever it has been desired to introduce color into the border in connection with the terry effects the color has usually been in the filling which is buried beneath the piles where it cannot be seen to best advanta e. For instance, the pile threads might be white and the filling might alternate from white to blue, the blue appearing under the white piles in the border;- The color so laid in the fabric does not present a clean cut design inasmuch as it lies under the white piles so that only a portion of the color can be seen. It is an important object of my present invention to provide a terry fabric wherein the piles will be formed of colored yarns and wherein all the color yarns except those of one color will be buried in the fabric. By this construction the pick of filling which-forms the terry loops will slide along not only the ground warps but those color warps which are to be bedded .into the fabric.

It has been proposed heretofore to provide terry fabrics wherein the pile warps are of different colors, but so far as I am aware it has been necessary to form piles of all the terry warps, a construction which uses up a considerable amount of terry war which is not necessary to the figure produce It is a further object of my present invention to form a terry fabric having a plurality of differently colored pile warps which shall be so disosed that the non-active terry warps will lie Below the active terry threads which are forming the piles so that a minimum amount of terry yarn may be em loyed.

With these and other 0 jects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my

invention resides in the combination and arran ement of parts hereinafter described and set orth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings wherein I have shown a convenient embodiment of my invention,

Fig. 1 is a pers ective view showing a portion of a terry abric made according to my present invention with the diversity of colors independent of the heights of ile, I

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of anot er portion of a terry fabric made according to my invention wherein the change of color is accompanied by a change of height in the piles of the fabric. I

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing two ground warps and two pairs of differently colored terr pile warps interlaced with a system of fil ing threads, the several threads being spaced to indicate more clearly the mzlrlnner in which they are related to each ot er,

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section through a portion of the fabric showing one set of piles in full lines and another corresponding set which would be beside the first set indicated in dotted'lines.

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of the, invention as a plied to a terry fabric wherein all of the plles are of the same height and lie on one side of the fabric, the relation Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fi 5 but with v the invention applied to terry abric wherein the piles are of different heights and lie on both sides of the fabric.

Terry pile fabrics are generally made with the use of two distinct systems of warp threads, the so-called ound warps being relatively tight and being supplied b the usual war beam and the other s stem being provided y a loose terry warp am which Is given periodic advance movement to supply the'yarn from which the piles or loops are formed. My invention relates more particularly to the terry warp threads and to the manner in which they are incorporated into the terry fabric. As regards certain aspects of my invention the height of the piles is immaterial but as regards other features of the inventionthe height of the pile has a direct bearing on the character of yarn which forms said piles.

In all of the forms shown herein I provide ground warp threads 10 which form a plain weave with the filling shots 11. The terry warp threadsare shown as of two distinctive kinds, namely, the pair indicated at 12 being of a dark color and the pair indicated at 13 being a lighter color. The two systems of warp threads will be supplied by two different warp beams one of which will be held tight while the other is supplying the warp for the terry piles. As shown in Fig. 3 the two dark threads 12 form with the shots of filling a plain weave, that is, each of said threads 12 passes over one shot of filling, under the next, over the third etc. By referring to Fig. 3 it will be seen that those portions of the threads 12 at the left have been formed into loops or piles 14 while said threads at the right hand side of the figure are woven into the fabric without forming piles as indicated at 15.. The portions 15 of these threads 12 are in effect ground warps and cooperate with the threads 10 to form the body of the fabric from which the piles pro- 'ect.

1 The left hand ends of the second pair of terry warps 13 are shown in Fig. 3 as not forming piles but being comparatively flat as at 16 to form ound warps similar to the portions 15 of t e first set of terry warp threads. The intermediate portions of said threads 13, however, are formed as terry piles or loops 17. It will be seen by insepecting Fig. 3 that whenever iles or loops are being formed of one set 0 terry pile warps the other set of pile threads will be incorporated into the fabric as ground warps so that at no time are piles formed of both sets of threads. The right hand portions 18 of the second set of terry warp threads 13 as shown in Fig. 3 are non-pile forming and are disposed as are the adjacent portions of the threads 12 to provide a plain non-pile weave.

As shown in Fig. 5 the terry piles are all of the same height, two blocks of piles 14 formed of the terry warp 12 being separated by a block of piles 17 formed from the second set of terry warp threads 13. As shown in this figure the piles all lie on one side of the cloth and this result can be attained in well known manner by proper drawing and operation of the warp threads in the several harnesses which are used to control said threads As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 I. may employ piles of two different heights, Fig. 2 showing two blocks of relatively high piles H being separated by a block of lower piles L. This feature of the variation of the height of piles is set forth in more detail in my copending application Serial No. 239,372. As

shown in Fig. 1 the high piles may be of two colors or formed of terry warp threads of two distinct characters, the darker portions.

I height of the pile as shown in Fig. 1.

In Fig. 2 the blocks H of high piles are formed of terry warp drawn from the dark set of terry warp threads 12 while the block L of lower piles is formed by terry loops formed in the other set of lighter warp threads 13.

Fig. 6 shows diagrammatically the arrangement of the blocks H and L with the ground warps and shots of filling omitted, the piles in this figure corresponding to the showing set forth in Fig. 2-

I find that terry fabrics can ,be made according to several different weaves depending upon the tightness of binds desired between the ground work and the terry piles. While it is ermissible to provide a row of terry piles or every three, four, five or six shots of filling yet I have chosen to illustrate the invention in connection with a so-called three pick terr wherein the shots of filling may be thought of as being divided into groups of three with one row of terry piles or every group. If desired, however, the groups may contain greater numbers of shots of filling. Fig. 3 shows the piles of any one color of terry warp as being formed every third short of filling.

It is also possible to manipulate the harnesses in a variety of ways but I have shown herein for the sake of simplicity a plain weave wherein each warp thread whether ground or pile passes over one shot of filling, under the next, over the third, etc., but I do not wish to be limited to this particular arrangement of the warp threads.

It will be observed that a feature which is common to the several forms illustrated is that only one set of terry warps is active to form piles at a time, the other set being incorporated into the cloth and acting as ground warps. This is true whether the piles be of the same or of different heights, but as a matter of practical expediency where piles of different heights are employed it is preferable to have the change in the character of the terry warp threads change with the height of piles. This is due to the fact that each set of terry warp is drawn'from a separate beam and the feeds of the different- .beams may be different with respect to each other although the amount of yarn supplied by any one terry warp beam will be constant on successive pile forming beats of the loom.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a terry fabric wherein the piles or loops are formed of a plurality of systems of terry warp threads, all of the terry warps except one'being non-pile forming and buried in the fabric when that one set is saving in the color terry yarn. It will further i pile forming warp threads. A

be seen that a particularly convenient arrangement is to have the terry formed of differing heights of pile wherein the changes in color or character of the terry yarn coincide with the changes in the height of the pile.

Having thus described my invention it will be apparent that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a woven terry fabric having ground warp threads extending throughout the length of the fabric interwoven with shots of filling, two sets of distinctively difi'erent looped pile forming terry warp threads, the threads of each set being interwoven with the shots of filling, the looped piles in any one continuous row extending across the fabric being drawn from one set and being of a. given height and looped piles extending across the fabric in another row being formed of the warp threads in another set and being of a.

different height from the looped piles formed by the threads in the first named set of terry 2. In a woven terry fabric having ground warp threads extending throughout the length of the fabric interwoven with shots of filling, two sets of terry warp threads of distinctive characters forming different transverse zones longitudinally of the fabric, each set having groups of looped piles formed therein and the threads of each set being interlaced with the shots of'filling, the looped piles corresponding to any one row of loops extending entirely across the fabric being supplied by but one set of terry warp threads.

3. In a woven terry fabric having ground warp threads extending throughout the' length of the fabric'interwoven with shots forming different transverse zones longitudinally of the fabric, the looped piles extending across the width of the fabric being of warp threads andall formed from one set being of a given height, and the threads of the other set being incorporated into the fab ric as ground threads under the piles without forming pile, said threads of the other set being formed to provide looped piles ex- WALTER H. WAKEFIELD.

of filling, two sets of terry pile forming warp threads forming different transverse zones longitudinally of the fabric, the sets being distinctively different, looped piles formed of the threads of one set and extending across the width of the fabric and being of a given height, and piles formed in the extending across the width of the fabric and being of a different height from the piles formed from the first named set.

4. In a woven terry fabric having ground warp threads extending throughout the length of the fabric interwoven with shots of filling, two sets of terry looped pile forming warp threads of distinctive characters other set and 

